Prior-art center consoles are usually manufactured of a uniform material, i.e., as one piece in an injection-molding process. They exhibit substantially a U-shape in the cross-section, and are demolded in a direction substantially parallel to the opposing legs of the “U.” The console support manufactured in this way is provided with numerous subsequently added attachments, such as an air duct, reinforcements, trim covers, etc., which are likewise manufactured, although separately, in an injection-molding process. Bolting, clipping, welding, gluing, etc., may optionally be used in the joining process. Separate manufacturing and placement of these attachments, likewise manufactured in an injection-molding process, is time-consuming and very costly. Additionally, a certain distance must be kept between the individual components in order to compensate for tolerances of the joining processes and prevent noise during use, which increases the required installation space. Moreover, the many components will necessarily result in a double-panel design within the system and as a result, increase its weight.
Moreover, EP 1 595 74 7 A1 discloses a center console, whose console support is divided in the longitudinal direction into two halves, whereby these halves are connected via an interior part, which again is divided into two halves. Here, too, a plurality of attachments needs to be added and manufactured separately, e.g., air-duct parts, interior parts, trim covers, etc., making production very costly and time-consuming. Apart from this, a triple-panel design is present in certain partial areas, in which an interior part of a console support and a side trim panel cover one another. This has the effect of making the center console very heavy.